Weather in the Garden Theresa Bryant Igniting the Wonder A Conference for K-2 Teachers and Curriculum Specialists

Conference Description Become weather savvy through observing and collecting data that will be analyzed from using weather instruments that you can engineer in your weather garden or playground. Related SOLs: Science: K.1, K.9, 1.1, 1.6, 1.7, 2.1, 2.6, 2.7; Math: K.8, K.10, k.14, 1.9, 1.15, 2.11, 2.14, 2.17, 2.19; Writing: K.11, K.12, 1.11, 1.12, 2.11, 2.12; Reading: K.6, K.8, K.10, 1.7, 2.6, 2.7, 2.9

What is weather? How can young children observe the weather? What types of tools can help children to observe and predict the weather? How can children measure the weather?

Clouds Observe…Analyze...Predict Connect to Children’s Literature: “Little Cloud” by Eric Carle “Shapes in the Sky: A Book About Clouds” by Joseph Sherman “Fluffy, Flat, and Wet: A Book About Clouds” by Dana Meachen Rau Journaling; creativity; graphing

Precipitation What is precipitation? Where does precipitation come from? How can it be measured? How can it be analyzed?

Wind Can the wind help us to predict the weather? Can we determine the direction of the wind? Can we measure the speed of the wind?

Temperature Why is the temperature important to us? How can we measure the temperature? How can we analyze our data collection?

Weather Instruments Engineering Challenge: Design and build an instrument that will show the direction of the wind by using these parameters: There needs to be a pointer and a tail fin The tail fin must be larger than the pointer The tail fin and pointer must be attached The tail fin and pointer must be moveable The cardinal directions (N,W,E,S) must be attached

TEST: Take the students out to the playground to find out if their wind vane works –C–Can they tell what direction the wind is coming from? –I–If there is no wind on this date, a fan could be used to test; however, they should be taken outside to test on the next windy day

REDESIGN: –Allow students to redesign their wind vanes if needed and test again Discuss what did and didn’t work and brainstorm better design ideas

Your Weather Garden What weather instruments would you/your class like to use everyday as you observe the weather? Where can we place our weather instruments? What about engineering a weather station?

Helpful Websites ( information about grant funding for community gardens)